He quotes directly from this image, which is in fact a copy of a copy, as Samuel Calvert copied this image of Captain Cook landing in Botany Bay from an image by Gilfillan, which is now lost. cat. Mondrian, a Dutch De Stijl artist and a Theosophist, used art to search empirical truths and their source. His work is layered and complex and often incorporates images, styles or references drawn from sources such as social history text books, western art history and Indigenous art. Like words, visual images, forms and elements are powerful signifiers of meaning. . Explain how you believe Bennett communicates and presents questions and complexities in his work. Why? Bennett confronts and questions the appropriateness of this borrowing. This was common practice among young Aboriginal girls and women. Bennett indicates the need to be reconciled within the context of culture and history to develop a full sense of identity. Does this text contain inaccurate information or language that you feel we should improve or change? The installation is filled with images of his family and Constructivist-style drawings made by the artist. The emphasis on making art about art which was the focus of his non-representational abstract paintings, contrasts clearly with the focus on social critique that was integral to Bennetts earlier work, and was intended also to make people aware that I am an artist first and not a professional Aborigine.2 In this respect, Bennetts non representational abstract works, despite their overt emphasis on visual concerns, may be seen as reflecting his engagement with questions of identity, knowledge and perception. The titles of Bennetts artworks reflect the artists awareness of the power of words/language to suggest meaning. Queensland-born Gordon Bennett was an artist who loved collapsing 'high' and 'low' art boundaries. Other aspects of the image, including the flat, stylised shapes of the head, reflect connections to both Western abstract art and Indigenous art traditions. Bennett purposefully constructed these layers to blur fixed ideas and raise questions about the way identity is constructed. John Citizen is an artist for our times: he reflects back to us citizens the white Australia of the postKeating era. European history has stipulated that being Australian has required anyone that does not fit into such a Eurocentric category is different, other and therefore unworthy. Bennett was aware of the role binary opposites, such as self/other, play in constructing personal and cultural identity. Even when the starting point for a work is an emotive one, I believe I conceptually examine the ideas behind the emotion and extrapolate from there Gordon Bennett1. Like many others at that time, Bennett was inspired by the work of the historian Henry Reynolds. Narratives of exploration, colonisation and settlement failed to recognise the sovereign rights (or sovereignty) of Australias Indigenous people. Why do artists such as Gordon Bennett and Tracey Moffatt (b.1960) systematically decline to participate in exhibitions of Aboriginal art? With reference to at least two artworks, identify and explain some of the strategies and techniques you believe Bennett has used to engage the viewer. This approach involved a flattening of the picture surface and often the use of disparate visual elements or styles borrowed or copied from different sources. In this work Bennett directly references historical British sources, namely Samuel Calverts (18281913) colour etching Captain Cook Taking Possession of the Australian Continent on Behalf of the British Crown AD 1770 c.185364 (National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne), which is itself a copy of John Alexander Gilfillans (17931864) earlier, now lost, painting of the same title. The pale, marble- like sculpted heads on the bed remind us of the Classical art and learning that has been privileged in Western culture above other forms of art and learning, including those associated with Indigenous cultures. It has been designed for teachers and students to instigate discussion and investigation, and includes learning activities relevant to history and visual arts that can be adapted to different levels. RM 2JEMG56 - A rare old photograph of the 1903 Gordon Bennett trophy race, Ireland - In the 'pits' attendants are cooling down an overheated vehicle with a bucket of water. Gordon Bennett Australia 1955-2014. This contemporary questioning and revision of the traditional, narrow euro-centric view of history reflects a postcolonial perspective. It speaks of colonial violence and the consequences of being on the 'wrong' side of history, purchased in 2019, this powerful and sobering work is a major acquisition for the QAGOMA Collection. Inspired by African and Iberian art, he also contributed to the rise of Surrealism and Expressionism. In Outsider the energy and intensity associated with van Goghs expressive brushstrokes and brilliant colour contrasts are powerfully explosive . The persistence of language references the way language controls and defines how we understand ourselves and our world. Home Dcor (Algebra) Ocean, 1998 synthesises the work of Piet Mondrian(18721944), Margaret Preston (18751963) and later in the series, JeanMichel Basquiat(19601988) among others. Choose a selfportrait by Gordon Bennett that interests you. Do you agree? An orphan from a very young age, she was raised on Cherbourg Aboriginal Mission in Queensland, and later trained as a domestic at Singleton. However behind the neat facade and pleasantries of suburban life, Bennett was haunted by racism and the same derogatory opinions of Aboriginal people that he quietly endured in the workforce. Today. Image: Gordon Bennett, Australia 1955-2014, Possession Island, 1991. While some people may argue this has been a quick road to success, and that my work is authorised by my Aboriginality, I maintain that I dont have to be an Aborigine to do what I do, and that quick success is not an inherent attribute of an Aboriginal heritage, as history has shown, nor is it that unusual for college graduates who have something relevant to say. They powerfully describe pain and violence. This event was re-enacted in many pageants and dramatisations during Australias Bicentenary in 1988, as a way of celebrating 200 years of Australian history. References As an Australian of both Aboriginal and Anglo Celtic descent, Bennett felt he had no access to his indigenous heritage. Bennett achieved critical success early in his career. L120238 Gordon Bennett. In September 2017, Bennett's 1991 Possession Island was unveiled at London's Tate Modern. However, for Bennett, dot painting also became a powerful expression of the connections between nature and culture, which are integral to representation in Aboriginal art. She looms large over the landscape in Requiem, as she does in the post- contact history of the nation as a symbol of the devastating impact that colonisation had on Indigenous people and culture. Here he exposes the truth of colonial occupation it was a bloody conquest. Why might such an organisation purchase this painting? Gordon Bennett Possession Island (Abstraction), 1991 Kevin Gilbert Christmas Eve in the Land of the Dispossessed, 1968; 1992 KEY ARTIST ONE- VERNON AH KEE Born 1967, Innisfail, Queensland. Are these qualities perceived as positive? Possession Island 1992. Consider what dates/events should be included in your timeline and why. Roundels relating to symbols that denote significant sites in Aboriginal Western Desert dot painting also appear. Jenna Gribbon, Luncheon on the grass, a recurring dream, 2020. Gordon Bennett born Australia 1955 Possession Island 1991 oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas (a-b) 162.0 x 260.0 cm (overall) Museum of Sydney on the site of first Government House, Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales. Bennett lodges this image in layers of dots and slashes of red and yellow paint that refer to other artists and images. While self- portraits usually address issues of personal identity, Bennett uses this form of representation to also look at issues of identity on a national scale. In Calverts etching, an Aboriginal man holds a drinks tray. Include a selection of relevant artworks by Gordon Bennett to illustrate your timeline. Possession Island No 2 1991 is a painting that shows the British explorer Captain James Cook and other compatriots hoisting the Union flag to claim the eastern coast of Australia for the British Crown in 1770. Blood is a potent symbol and has historically been a measure of Aboriginality. Discuss in relation to selected artworks by Bennett that you believe reveal questions and complexities, rather than answers and simplicities. These act as disturbances. Traditionally these arches were built by the Romans to celebrate victory in war. SOLD FEB 10, 2023. The left explodes with images of 9/11, the devastatingly unforgettable attacks in the United States, including New York. The Estate of Gordon Bennett. Oil and acrylic on canvas, 182 x 182 cm. The first panel of Bennetts triptych, Requiem, depicts Trugannini (c. 1812 1876), a Palawa woman from Tasmania. What evidence can you see in this self-portrait of Bennett linking issues of personal identity with broader issues related to history and culture? Viewed in this context, the black square in Untitled could be seen as a resilient black presence, asserting itself in the settlement narrative that Bennett deconstructed. Indeed, he explains that before the age of sixteen he was not really aware of his Indigenous heritage. 1 0-5-30 j RED STAR Now 35 oft on all RED STARRED SIWFMIMUIS IliMMS . Discuss different approaches/ideas evident in the way each artist uses dots in their work. Eventually Bennetts mother earned an official exemption that allowed her to leave the Mission. while Bennett may have attempted, in recent years, to disconnect from the politics of his earlier practice, there is also a sense within these paintings, of the impossibility of such a task. Bennetts grid formations seem to imprison the figures within the canvas. Bennett was interested in the way language and images construct identity and history, and the way this language controls and creates meaning. Gordon Bennett 1. SOLD FEB 21, 2023. She was one of the first Australian artists to recognise the spiritual significance of Aboriginal art and the land. Picassos sizable oeuvre grew to include over 20,000 paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures,ceramics, theater sets, and costume designs. 40 41. If God cannot be contained, can humanity be contained by stereotypes and labels? Linear perspective is a system for organising visual information. Typical of Bennetts early work, the painting appropriates an existing picture, in this case an historical painting, and transforms the content with carefully considered signs of Aboriginal identity. GORDON BENNETT AND HIS RACES From the Book: Die Gordon Bennett Ballon Rennen (The Gordon Bennett Races)by Ulrich Hohmann Sr along with articles by others.Many of his contemporaries have considered Mister James Gordon Bennett to be a spleeny American. The Politics of Art. Bennetts art is not always easy to look at. Perhaps in this sense Citizen represents an Australian everyman who recognises the wrongs of history and racist representations, but who has no real interest in going any further in asking hard questions about why they happened and what impact they caused. Once again the letters A B C D feature as a potent symbol and complete the grid. We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung People as the Traditional Owners of the land on which the NGV is built. The strategy of word association subverts the values and meaning traditionally associated with the image. These paintings reflect Bennetts belief that after the Notes to Basquiat series of 2003, I had gone as far I could with the postcolonial project I was working through1. Purchased with funds from the Foundation for the Historic Houses Trust, Museum of Sydney Appeal, 2007 He found this liberating. The coming of the light also explores ideas, issues and questions related to the Enlightenment values central to colonialism. This allowed him to utilise professional capture, editing and special effects software, to expand his art practice to include video and performance work. It was no accident that Bennett used Pollocks Blue Poles: Number 11. It is interesting to note that this same year was declared a period of mourning by Aboriginal people. At the same time his work demonstrates great conceptual unity and interconnectedness. Kelly Gellatly 3. Gordon Bennett (9 October 1955 - 3 June 2014) [1] was an Australian artist of Aboriginal and Anglo-Celtic descent. They are strategically and prominently placed at the centre top of each panel, each radiating an aura of light created by white dots. After years of critiquing art-historical standards, Bennett has himself become the standard bearer. He tried a career as an actuarial clerk, attending Hawthorn College after Balwyn State School. These signs can also be read as evidence that disputes the claim that Australia was discovered terra nullius or nobodys land. Bennett used it to question notions of self. This is similar to the way a Pointillist painting can only be seen effectively from a distance to bring the image into focus. He holds a large whip with which he regularly lashes out at a black, coffin- like box. Research references to existing images in Gordon Bennetts The nine richochets (Fall down black fella, jump up white fella) 1990. Jenna Gribbon, Silver Tongue, 2019, Price ranges of small prints by Pablo Picasso. Traditional ideas about an artists individual or signature style are further confounded in Bennetts art practice by the his appropriation or sampling of the distinctive styles of other artists, including Jackson Pollock (191256), Margaret Preston ( 18751963) and Piet Mondrian (18721944). In Altered body print (Shadow figure howling at the moon) Bennett focuses more explicitly on binary opposites and the associations they trigger. The soundtrack includes digital sampling of ICE.Ts Race War. Possession Island (Appendix 1) 1991 and Notes to Basquiat (Jackson Pollock and his Other) (Appendix 2) 2001 will be discussed in relation to Henri's statement.